SEE YA

why.

Living here now.

Books, and micro’ing are more realistic for my lifestyle.

Yeasayer – Sunrise (Hey Champ Remix)

If you ain’t got nothin’ to blog, then don’t blog nothin’ at all. I’m not going to apologize for not posting more lately. I didn’t have anything inspiring, interesting or provoking to write about. My readership isn’t that intensive that one will forget, so it is what it is. That is something I’m noticing more and more. Those just posting mediocre submissions, or piggy- backing of an article blogged by all their other friends. This holds true especially in the musical blog arena. A new remix is like mp3 incest.

My new job talks of “green washing” quite a bit. As an environentally concious brand they recognize the popularity of green speak and how everyone is jumping on board to prove their brand is earth responsible. Now, it’s nothing new-barely a decent marketing tactic anymore. It’s also hard to tell those passionate about it, or who is riding the wave. 

The same can absolutely be said about the blogosphere. My writing is not the bomb, and I certainly don’t claim to know everything (in fact I’m ridiculously inquisitive)…but I do know that as they say, killer content rules.

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The following is an update as to where I’ve been:

It’s been a long year, moved away then came back again. So I’m back in the fair city, that is Rochester, NY. New title, new pad, and soon to be new puppy (this weekend?). Things are good.

AND it’s fist pump Friday. I’m dj’ing tonight at chroma if you’re in the area and want to celebrate spring.

I encourage all those in marketing, marcom, PR, advertising, etc to sit down and listen to this man and his presentation on “The Future of Advertising”. It’s happening now, it’s been happening…I’ve recently moved on from a company that is starting to think about exploring this arena while I’ve been shouting it from the top of my lungs.

Thanks Matt Dickman, you are a pro at breaking “it” down-clearly and concisely.Show is about 40 minutes long. Just in time for the weekend.

I’m relocating in 7 days, excited.

Flickr photo from: Chocolatepoint

i’ve been MIA. something big’s been brewing. i wish to go to sxsw…but what’s up my sleeve will probably not allow this year.

Stay Tuned…

Flickr photo: talarico

I’ve been sitting on this link for months and months and now seemed like an opportune time. So, Amy Winehouse killed the grammy’s, and she wasn’t even physically there. And while halloween’s been done and gone, this cracks me up enough to have it bookmarked and share on a rainy day (or a below zero day). Seriously, keep scrolling-so many Amy’s!

That post is due in thanks to Brooklyn Vegan -an exemplary blog that does a great job conversationally, since 2003. Controversial, entertaining, and reaching beyond it’s NYC/BKLYN roots. With regular contributors and guests, contests, the Vegan has an all around good sense of humor and insightful rotating content.

Stereogum is another indie music blog that gets more traffic but compares closely in linkbacks, and commenting.

In a company meeting yesterday, our COO dropped the “harder, faster, stronger” line, and got me Daft Punk day dreamin’. So I thought I’d share this fun viral spoof of the French Dynamic Duo’s song, “Harder, Faster, Stronger”:

1.4 mil youtube “plays”:

Daft Bodies (catch it at about 2:00 in)

They received so much exposure they hopped on the #1 music social network, and have thousands of “Daft Bodies” fans.

The thing that I get the biggest kick out of are their “copy cats” (If you can’t access myspace blogs, this is worth figuring out a way to do so…). The “Copy Cats ” post is friendly, polite and really emphasizes an “all in good fun” attitude. The commentary within I’d say is enough to make anyone “ROFL”.

With that said, being a long time fan of Daft Punk, they’re doing so many things right. What other DJ’s could entertain an arena full of people? (Apparently Justice is going try) And “Around the World” is a timeless, lifesaving dancefloor jam for 1:45AM in the world of DJ’ing.

While the “Daft Body chicks” aren’t Daft Punk’s main target audience(s), they have certainly helped in getting them on the map for those too young to remember “homework“.

Daft Punk. Another example of community, WOM, and how stuff gets “Around the World”:

Flickr photo from: André Felipe

This is a great little nugget of fun social media happenings that just sort of fell into place.

Sean Scott provides more details of this spontaneity-but the long and short of it is comedian, Mark Mallkof needed a place to crash. So he contacted Ikea and asked if he could stay in one of their stores for a while, and in exchange he would document the whole thing…What did Ikea do? They said, hell yes.

The point here is: A brand recognizing an opportunity and opening its doors to an evangelist.

If you want to check in on Mark…maybe give a care package of toiletries? Here’s where to go:

Check out www.171starbucks.com
My attention span rarely allows me to sit through the length of this video (10+ min) –but he had me glued.

I survived all the holiday cheer, and back…Happy happy ‘08.

So, okay. And hang on. M.C. Hammer, a Social Media guru? He’s announced that later this month Dancejam.com will be launched. A site for browsing & sharing dance videos – giving you the perfect reason for busting out your old hammer pants.

He’s really going to knuckle up against this? How’s that going to work? I see dance off’s and contests getting old quick…

My favorite is his quote at the end:

“It looks like technology has finally caught up with my vision.” Oh I chuckle….

Flickr photo’s from:
nofrillsmarilyn
AndrewJThomas

 While I hate pulling blogger speak by throwing “kool-aid” in my title, I couldn’t resist.

Well, today is a festive fist pump friday.
Holiday spirit alone warrants its own fist pump, but there’s a couple other exciting things going on…

My last post was on poor customer service and the insurance industry. I had secretly hoped someone from geico would spider my ass from the noise I was making, find my post and whisper me sweet nothings.

They haven’t, but Cision did. I wrote last month on my frustrations with the “media intelligence” software Cision and its lack of compatibility with the browser Firefox. Some community manager must have a “Cision sucks” google alert and got right on me. I received a very pleasant e-mail within a couple days from their SVP explaining how they’re moving forward with finalizing supported versions for both mac and PC platforms for Firefox (& Safari), while also recognizing browsers beyond IE as a corporate standard.

And I was thanked for talking about their product.

So, 3 cheers to Cision for drinking the social media kool aid a long time ago.
I ain’t a hater, I’m an evangelizah’.

I’m tossing a fist pump out to the coolness of the kindle. Won’t be in my stocking this christmas…but I hope to tinker with the digital reader at some point-I AM that much of a geek to proudly rock it I think.

Are they the future?

Photo of fistpump by Flickr user jakobdorof

I often get tired of reading certain blogs that just gripe and moan…and while this blog isn’t related to cars, insurance, or even customer satisfaction, this blog IS about community and information sharing. And since this situation has been rocking my world lately, I figured I’d share. Without further ado:

I recently totaled my car. Really, really, really unfortunate. I say “recently” but it’s been almost a month now, and guess what? I’m having insurance problems. There is nothing that irks me more than being blatantly ignored. Ironically enough the reviews department (actually an email “from” their vice president, John J. Geer, Jr.) had enough time to spam me and ask that I write a review on their company. So, I did- here it is:

“My time with geico overall has been poor. Here’s my story: I’ve been with geico since i was a senior in high school or so (i was probably attracted to the advertising and that it was the “new” kid on the block). Since then my experience has been mediocre, especially after being involved in a recent and scary accident i was involved in (both airbags went off, car was wrecked and emotional issues going on). The car ended up being totaled due to slipping on black ice. It was really scary. The accessor spoke with me on two occasions and was very nice. Since then I have heard little to no news on my vehicles worth, and how soon I can get things sorted out. I still have the title sitting on my desk because I don’t want to mail it to them. The single estimate that was given to me was WAY OFF, and since then I’ve called many times to see what the update and status is. Receiving no response-the whole scenario is really sobering because my position leaves me feeling like I’m being punished for an accident that happened. It shouldn’t be a fight to desire/expect a quick response and a fair figure that I can work with. Especially during the holiday season. I vouched not to rent a vehicle in hopes to make the process go quicker, now I wish I had. It’s hard having to bum rides constantly.

I would be wary of Geico in general as the prices are NOT that competitive. And if you (God forbid) happen to be in an accident, they truly are just like any other insurance company that wants to give you AS LITTLE as possible back. Finally, they do not communicate their intentions, and certainly do not have put the customer first, or their best interest. Go somewhere else, I intend to as soon as this fiasco is over.”

I’d say this experience has left me feeling like I’m dealing with cavemen. But in reality the company has simply treated me as if I’m one.

What better than an angry 80’s heavy metal band to bring things home?